Lebanese map is is not only an online directory similar to Google but also an interactive listing directory where you can write a review on any business regarding your experience with it and have the chance to win a trip to Turkey. •

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MasterCard's New Credit Card Will Come With a Fingerprint Scanner

2014-10-22

MasterCard is introducing a credit card that comes with a fingerprint scanner to make paying for items at stores more secure.

MasterCard's contactless payment option is hardly new, allowing users to tap a card at checkout (and bypass the PIN code process). But MasterCard is now teaming up with biometric tech company Zwipe to prevent people from paying for items this way with stolen credit cards. It's a way to prove that it's actually you using the card.

The Zwipe MasterCard, which might be offered only in the UK for now, comes with a built-in fingerprint scanner that stores your thumbprint. When you put your thumb on the scanner, the embedded chip unlocks and you'll be able to tap the card to make purchases.

The companies say it's the first card to combine contactless payment with biometric authentication. It makes sense; credit card companies are always trying to find ways to simplify the payment process and make it safer for users along the way.

We've seen this most recently with Apple Pay, which will require Touch ID fingerprint authentication and an iPhone with near field communication (NFC) technology to allow mobile devices to be used as wallets at checkout. The company is using a method called "tokenization" as a security measure, so credit card information is never stored locally, and is handled by payment networks; this means that if a retailer has a security breach, users' credit card information won't be revealed.

MasterCard is one of Apple Pay's early partners and even launched an app on Thursday called MasterCard Nearby that tells users which retailers in the area accept Apple Pay.

It's unknown as of now if the Zwipe MasterCard will come to the U.S. anytime soon, but it's a smart feature that many would likely want to try. Then again, if Apple Pay takes tangible credit cards out of the equation altogether, perhaps a card with a fingerprint scanner is just doubling up on what the iPhone will already offer.